U.S. military officials said they carried out a new strike on a boat suspected of transporting drugs in the Caribbean Sea, leaving two people dead on Monday (4).
The information was released by the official profile of U.S. Southern Command on X, in a post that included footage of the airstrike. According to The Guardian, the latest strike brings the total number of victims to 188 since the beginning of U.S. operations in the Caribbean.
The U.S. government said it is engaged in an active war against what it calls “narcoterrorists” in the region. The actions intensified in late 2025 and, so far, at least 40 boats have been targeted by U.S. troops.
Despite the claim, no evidence has been presented linking the targeted vessels to drug trafficking. Recently, a fishing boat from Ecuador hit in the Caribbean during one of these incursions left survivors, who were able to prove that no drugs were being transported on the vessel.
In an interview with the newspaper Hora do Povo, Fernando Cedeño, a congressman from Ecuador, said the episode highlights the failures of the Trump administration’s anti-drug policy, which, “under the claim of fighting drugs,” continues to take the lives of innocent people.
On May 4, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking… pic.twitter.com/8S1feXpSiL
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) May 5, 2026
Photo and video: X @Southcom. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
